Contents

The Torah suggests that the name of Levi refers to Leah's hope for Jacob to join with her, implying a derivation from yillaweh, meaning he will join, but some Biblical scholars have proposed quite different origins of the name. These scholars suspect that it may simply mean priest, either as a loan word from the Minaeanlawi'u, meaning priest, or by referring to those people who were joined to the ark of the covenant. Another possibility is that the Levites originated as migrants, and that the name Levites indicates their joining with either the Israelites in general, or the earlier Israelite priesthood in particular.[1] In the Book of Jubilees 28:14-15; it says that Levi was born "in the new moon of the first month" which means that he was born on 1 Nissan.[2]

In the Book of Genesis, Levi and his brother, Simeon, exterminate the city of Shechem in revenge for the rape of Dinah, seizing the wealth of the city and killing the men.[3] The brothers had earlier misled the inhabitants of Shechem by consenting to Dinah's rapist marrying her, and when Jacob hears about their destruction of Shechem, he castigates them for it.[4] In the Blessing of Jacob, Jacob is described as imposing a curse on the Levites, by which they would be scattered, in punishment for Levi's actions in Shechem.[5] Some textual scholars date the Blessing of Jacob to a period between just one and two centuries prior to the Babylonian captivity, and some Biblical scholars regard this curse, and Dinah herself as an aetiological postdiction to explain the fates of the tribe of Simeon and the Levites, with one possible explanation of the Levites' scattered nature being that the priesthood was originally open to any tribe, but gradually became seen as a distinct tribe itself (the Levites).[1] Nevertheless, Isaac, Levi's grandfather, give a special blessing about the lineage of priests of God.[6]

In the Book of Genesis, Levi is described as having fathered three sons—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.[7] A similar genealogy is given in the Book of Exodus, where it is added that among Kohath's sons was one—Amram—who married a woman named Jochebed, who was closely related to his father, and they were the biological parents of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam;[8] though some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Torah state that Jochebed was Amram's father's cousin, the Masoretic Text states that she was his father's sister,[9] and the Septuagint mentions that she was one of his father's sisters. The Masoretic Text's version of Levi's genealogy thus implies (and in Numbers 26:59, explicitly states) that Levi also had a daughter (Jochebed), and the Septuagint implies further daughters. The names of Levi's sons, and possible daughter, are interpreted in classical rabbinical literature as being reflections on their future destiny.[10] In some apocryphal texts such as the Testament of Levi, and the Book of Jubilees, Levi's wife, his children's mother, is named as Milkah, a daughter of Aram.[11][12]

Some scholars attribute the genealogy to a hypothetical Book of Generations, a document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source.[13] According to some Biblical scholars, the Torah's genealogy for Levi's descendants, is actually an aetiological myth reflecting the fact that there were four different groups among the Levites – the Gershonites, Kohathites, Merarites, and Aaronids.[14] Aaron—the eponymous ancestor of the Aaronids—couldn't be portrayed as a brother to Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, as[further explanation needed] the narrative about the birth of Moses (brother of Aaron), which textual scholars attribute to the earlier Elohist source, mentions only that both his parents were Levites (without identifying their names).[15] Some Biblical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses.[14]

In accordance with his role as founder of the Levites, Levi is referred to as being particularly pious. The Blessing of Moses, which some textual scholars attribute to a period just before the deuteronomist, speaks about Levi via an allegorical comparison to Moses himself,[18] which hagaddah take to support the characterisation of Levi (and his progeny) as being by far the greatest of his brothers in respect to piety. The apocryphalPrayer of Asenath, which textual scholars believe dates from some time after the first century AD (scholarship in regards to the dating is currently quite contentious, with dates ranging from near the first century, to the fourth or fifth centuries),[1] describes Levi as a prophet and saint, able to forecast the future, understand heavenly writings (astrology? weather trends?), and someone who admonishes the people to be forgiving, as well as in awe of God. The Book of Malachi argues that the Levites were chosen by Yahweh to be the priests, because Levi as minister of God,[19] was specified only the true religious regulations, was reverent, revered Yahweh, was in awe of the God's name, upheld peace, was a model of good morality, and turned many people from sin.[20]

In the Testament of Levi, Levi is described as having had two visions. The first vision covered eschatological issues, portraying the seven heavens, the Jewish Messiah, and Judgement Day. The second vision portrays seven angels bringing Levi seven insignia signifying priesthood, prophecy, and judgement; in the vision, after the angels anoint Levi, and initiate him as a priest, they tell him of the future of his descendants, mentioning Moses, the Aaronid priesthood, and a time when there would be priest-kings; this latter point was of particular interest to the Maccabean period of John Hyrcanus, who was both a high priest, and warrior-king. According to some textual scholars this is to be expected, since the Testament of Levi is believed to have been written during Maccabean rule, between 153BC and 107BC, and closer to the latter date.[21] The Book of Jubilees similarly has Isaac telling Levi of the future of his descendants, again predicting priesthood, prophets, and political power,[22] and additionally describes Jacob as entrusting Levi with the secrets of the ancients, so that they would be known only to the Levites;[23] however, like the Testament of Levi, the Book of Jubilees is regarded as a Maccabean-era document by some scholars.[1]

1.
Levi Strauss & Co.
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/ˌliːvaɪ ˈstraʊs/ is a privately owned American clothing company known worldwide for its Levis /ˌliːvaɪz/ brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, the companys corporate headquarters is located in the Levis Plaza in San Francisco. Levi Strauss started the business at the 90 Sacramento Street address in San Francisco and he next moved the location to 62 Sacramento Street then 63 &65 Sacramento Street. Jacob Davis, a Latvian Jewish immigrant, was a Reno, Davis did not have the required money to purchase a patent, so he wrote to Strauss suggesting that they go into business together. After Levi accepted Jacobs offer, on May 20,1873, Patent 139,121 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patented rivet was later incorporated into the companys jean design, contrary to an advertising campaign suggesting that Levi Strauss sold his first jeans to gold miners during the California Gold Rush, the manufacturing of denim overalls only began in the 1870s. The company created their first pair of Levis 501 Jeans in the 1890s, modern jeans began to appear in the 1920s, but sales were largely confined to the working people of the western United States, such as cowboys, lumberjacks, and railroad workers. Levi’s jeans apparently were first introduced to the East during the dude ranch craze of the 1930s, another boost came in World War II, when blue jeans were declared an essential commodity and were sold only to people engaged in defense work. Between the 1950s and 1980s, Levis jeans became popular among a range of youth subcultures, including greasers, mods, rockers. Levis popular shrink-to-fit 501s were sold in a unique sizing arrangement, the indicated size referred to the size of the prior to shrinking. The company still produces these unshrunk, uniquely sized jeans, additionally, the back pocket rivets, which had been covered in denim since 1937, were removed completely in the 1950s due to complaints they scratched furniture. The acquisition led to the introduction of the modern stone washing technique, simpkins is credited with the companys record-paced expansion of its manufacturing capacity from 16 plants to more than 63 plants in the United States from 1964 to 1974 and 23 overseas. As a result, Levis plants were perhaps the highest performing, best organized, the Dockers brand, launched in 1986 and which is sold largely through department store chains, helped the company grow through the mid-1990s, as denim sales began to fade. Dockers were introduced into Europe in 1996 and led by CEO Jorge Bardina, Levi Strauss attempted to sell the Dockers division in 2004 to relieve part of the companys $2.6 billion outstanding debt. As of 2016, most Levis jeans are made outside the US, though a few of the higher-end, labor history, distributing more than $9 million in restitution to some 1,200 employees. Levi Strauss claimed no knowledge of the offenses, then severed ties to the Tan family and instituted labor reforms, during the mid- and late-1990s, Fuerza Unida picketed the Levi Strauss headquarters in San Francisco and staged hunger strikes and sit-ins in protest at the companys labor policies. The company took on debt in February 1996 to help finance a series of leveraged stock buyouts among family members. The corporations bonds are traded publicly, as are shares of the companys Japanese affiliate, Levi Strauss Japan K. K

2.
Levi Strauss
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Levi Strauss was an American businessman of German origin who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co. began in 1853 in San Francisco, Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, Germany, on February 26,1829, in the Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. He was the son of Hirsch Strauss and his second wife Rebecca Strauss, Levis sister Fanny and her husband David Stern moved to St. Louis, Missouri, while Levi went to live in Louisville, Kentucky, and sold his brothers supplies in Kentucky. In January 1853, Levi Strauss became an American citizen, the family decided to open a West Coast branch of the family dry goods business in San Francisco, which was the commercial hub of the California Gold Rush. Levi was chosen to represent the family and he took a steamship for San Francisco, arriving in early March 1853, where he joined his sisters family. Strauss opened his dry goods wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry goods—clothing, bedding, combs, purses and he made tents, and later jeans. Levi lived with Fannys growing family, Jacob Davis, one of Strausss customers and one of the inventors of riveted denim pants in 1871, went into business with Strauss to produce blue jeans. The two men patented the new style of work pants in 1873, Levi Strauss died on September 26,1902, in San Francisco at the age of 73. He never married, and left the business to his four nephews, Jacob, Sigmund, Louis, and Abraham Stern and he also left bequests to a number of charities, such as the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. Before his death, he had also established scholarships at the University of California Berkeley, Levis fortune was estimated to be around $6 million. He was buried in Colma, California, the Levi Strauss museum in Buttenheim, Germany, is located in the 1687 house where Strauss was born. There is also a Visitors Center at Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, the Levi Strauss Foundation started with an 1897 donation to the University of California, Berkeley. Https, //sites. google. com/site/levistraussfamily/, http, //archive. is/ELJXG Levi Strauss & Company Biography of Levi Strauss from the Official Levi Strauss Site, Levi Strauss at Findagrave Levis Levis India Levi Strauss Museum in Buttenheim, Germany Levi Strauss at the Fashion Model Directory

3.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it

4.
Modern Hebrew language
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Modern Hebrew or Israeli Hebrew, generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew, is the standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It was revived as a language in the 19th and 20th centuries and is one of the two official languages of Israel, along with Modern Standard Arabic. Modern Hebrew is spoken by about nine people, counting native, fluent. The organization that directs the development of the Modern Hebrew language. The most common term for the language is Modern Hebrew. Most people refer to it simply as Hebrew, the term Modern Hebrew has been described as somewhat problematic as it implies unambiguous periodization from Biblical Hebrew. Rosén supported the now widely used term Israeli Hebrew on the basis that it represented the nature of Hebrew. In 2006, Israeli linguist Ghilad Zuckermann proposed the term Israeli to represent the origins of the language. Jewish contemporary sources describe Hebrew flourishing as a language in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew remained a spoken vernacular following the Babylonian captivity, Hebrew died out as a vernacular language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining after the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136 CE, which devastated the population of Judea. After the exile Hebrew became restricted to liturgical use, the revival of the Hebrew language was led by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Modern Hebrew used Biblical Hebrew morphemes, Mishnaic spelling, and Sephardic pronunciation, idioms and calques were made from Yiddish. Ben-Yehuda used a stock of 8,000 words from the Bible and 20,000 words from rabbinical commentaries and codified and planned the new language, some words he invented, such as ḥatzilīm for eggplants and ḥashmal for electricity. Sometimes, old Hebrew words took on different meanings altogether, for example, the Hebrew word kǝvīš, which now denotes a street or a road, is actually an Aramaic adjective meaning trodden down, blazoned, rather than a common noun. It was originally used to describe a blazoned trail, for a simple comparison between the Sephardic version of Mishnaic Hebrew and the Yemenite version of the same, see Yemenite Hebrew. Modern Hebrew is classified as an Afroasiatic language of the Semitic family, although it has been influenced by non-Semitic languages, Modern Hebrew retains its Semitic character in its morphology and in much of its syntax. A minority of scholars argue that the language had been so influenced by various substrate languages that it is genealogically a hybrid with Indo-European. These theories have not been met with acceptance, and Modern Hebrew continues to be considered a Semitic language by most experts

5.
Tiberian vocalization
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The system soon became used to vocalize other Hebrew texts as well. The Tiberian vocalization marks vowels and stress, makes fine distinctions of consonant quality and length, the sin dot distinguishes between the two values of ש‎. A dagesh indicates a consonant is geminate or unspirantized, and a raphe indicates spirantization, the mappiq indicates that ה‎ is consonantal, not silent, in syllable-coda position. Each of the vowel phonemes could be lengthened, occasionally. The ultrashort vowels are more complicated. There were two graphemes corresponding to the vowel /ă/, attested by alternations in manuscripts like ארֲריך~ארְריך, ואשמֳעָה~ואשמְעָה‎. ‎. In addition, one of the graphemes could also be silent, Shva was used both to indicate lack of a vowel and as another symbol to represent the phoneme /ă/, the latter also represented by hataf patah. The phoneme /ă/ had a number of allophones, /ă/ had to be written with shva rather than hataf patah when it was not pronounced as, before a laryngeal-pharyngeal, mobile šwa was pronounced as an ultrashort copy of the following vowel and as preceding /j/. Using ḥataf vowels was mandatory under gutturals but optional under other letters, קָ֫מֶץ‎ also denotes a slighter, as שׁוּרֶק‎ and קִבּוּץ‎ a firmer, compression or contraction of the mouth. Segôl takes its name from its form, so שָׁלֹשׁ נְקֻדּוֹת‎ is another name for Qibbúṣ. Moreover the names were mostly so formed, that the sound of each vowel is heard in the first syllable, in order to carry this out consistently some even write Sägôl, Qomeṣ-ḥatûf, cantillation signs mark stress and punctuation. Metheg may mark secondary stress, and maqqaf conjoins words into one stress unit, babylonian vocalization Palestinian vocalization Niqqud Cardinal vowels Blau, Joshua. Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew, a History of the Hebrew Language

6.
Book of Genesis
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The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The basic narrative expresses the theme, God creates the world and appoints man as his regent. The new post-Flood world is also corrupt, God does not destroy it, instead calling one man, Abraham, to be the seed of its salvation. At Gods command Abraham descends from his home into the land of Canaan, given to him by God, Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus. The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, the books author or authors appear to have structured it around ten toledot sections, but modern commentators see it in terms of a primeval history followed by the cycle of Patriarchal stories. In Judaism, the importance of Genesis centers on the covenants linking God to his chosen people. It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, while the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book. The primeval history has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, God creates the world in six days and consecrates the seventh as a day of rest. God creates the first humans Adam and Eve and all the animals in the Garden of Eden but instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A talking serpent portrayed as a creature or trickster, entices Eve into eating it anyway. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel, Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abels offering but not Cains. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abels place, after many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by the sin of man and Nephilim, and God determines to wipe out mankind. First, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build a huge boat, then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises that he not destroy the world a second time with water with the rainbow as the symbol of his promise. But upon seeing mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, God instructs Abram to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. Abrams name is changed to Abraham and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah, because Sarah is old, she tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. God resolves to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people, Abraham protests and gets God to agree not to destroy the cities if 10 righteous men can be found. Angels save Abrahams nephew Lot and his family, but his wife back on the destruction against their command and is turned into a pillar of salt

7.
Jacob
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Jacob, later given the name Israel, is regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Jacob was the third Hebrew progenitor with whom God made a covenant and he is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham, Sarah and Bethuel, the nephew of Ishmael, and the younger twin brother of Esau. Jacob had twelve sons and at least one daughter, by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and by their handmaidens Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacobs twelve sons, named in Genesis, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and his only daughter mentioned in Genesis is Dinah. The twelve sons became the progenitors of the Tribes of Israel, as a result of a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. Jacob is mentioned in a number of sacred scriptures, including the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament, the Quran, hadith, Baháí scripture, and the Book of Mormon. According to the folk etymology found in Genesis 25,26, according to Jan Fokkelman, the name is a shortened version of Yaaqob-el, meaning God may protect. The Hebrew Bible says at Genesis 32, 28-29 and 35,10, etymologically, it has been suggested that the name Israel comes from the Hebrew words לִשְׂרות and אֵל. Popular English translations typically reference the face off with God, ranging from wrestles with God to passive God contends. Some commentators say the name comes from the verb śārar, thereby making the name mean God rules or God judges, the biblical account of the life of Jacob is found in the Book of Genesis, chapters 25-50. Jacob and his brother, Esau, were born to Isaac and Rebecca after 20 years of marriage. Rebekah was uncomfortable during her pregnancy and went to inquire of God why she was suffering and she received the prophecy that twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight all their lives, even after they became two separate nations. According to Genesis 25,25, Isaac and Rebecca named the first son Hebrew, עשו‎‎, the second son they named יעקב, Jacob. The boys displayed very different natures as they matured. and Esau was a hunter, a man of the field. Moreover, the attitudes of their parents toward them also differed, And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, Genesis 25, 29-34 tells the account of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob. This passage tells that Esau, returning famished from the fields, Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright, to which Esau agreed. As Isaac aged, he became blind and was uncertain when he would die and he requested that Esau go out to the fields with his weapons to kill some venison. Isaac then requested that Esau make savory meat for him out of the venison, according to the way he enjoyed it the most, so that he could eat it and bless Esau

8.
Leah
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Leah, as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the daughter of Laban. She and her younger sister Rachel became the two concurrent wives of Hebrew patriarch Jacob and she had six sons, whose descendants became some of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. She also had a daughter, Dinah, the Torah introduces Leah by describing her with the phrase, Leah had tender eyes. It is argued as to whether the adjective tender should be taken to mean delicate, the commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leahs eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacobs older twin brother, in the Rabbinic mind, the two brothers are polar opposites, Jacob being a God-fearing scholar and Esau being a hunter who also indulges in murder, idolatry, and adultery. But people were saying, Laban has two daughters and his sister, Rebekah, has two sons, the older daughter will marry the older son, and the younger daughter will marry the younger son. Hearing this, Leah spent most of her weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as soft from weeping, God hearkens to Leahs tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does. Leah becomes Jacobs wife through a deception on the part of her father, in the Biblical account, Jacob is dispatched to the hometown of Laban—the brother of his mother Rebekah—to avoid being killed by his brother Esau, and to find a wife. Out by the well, he encounters Labans younger daughter Rachel tending her fathers sheep, Laban is willing to give Rachels hand to Jacob as long as he works seven years for her. On the wedding night, however, Laban switches Leah for Rachel, later Laban claims that it is uncustomary to give the younger daughter away in marriage before the older one. Laban offers to give Rachel to Jacob in marriage in return for seven years of work. Jacob accepts the offer and marries Rachel after the celebration of his marriage to Leah. Leah is the mother of six of Jacobs sons, including his first four, according to the scriptures, God saw that Leah was unloved and opened her womb as consolation. Seeing that she is unable to conceive, Rachel offers her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob, Leah responds by offering her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and names and raises the two sons that Zilpah bears. According to some commentaries, Bilhah and Zilpah are actually half-sisters of Leah, one day, Leahs firstborn son Reuben returns from the field with mandrakes for his mother. Leah has not conceived for a while, and this plant, frustrated that she is not able to conceive at all, Rachel offers to trade her night with their husband in return for the mandrakes. Leah agrees, and that night she sleeps with Jacob and conceives Issachar, afterwards she gives birth to Zebulun and to a daughter, Dinah

9.
Israelites
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The Israelites were a Semitic-speaking people of the ancient Near East, who inhabited a part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods. The ancient Israelites are considered to be an outgrowth of the indigenous Canaanite populations that inhabited the Southern Levant, Syria, ancient Israel. In the period of the monarchy it was only used to refer to the inhabitants of the northern kingdom. The Israelites were also known as the Hebrews and the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Jews are named after and also descended from the southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah, particularly the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and partially Levi. The word Jews is found in 2 Kings, Chronicles, and in passages in the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Zechariah. The Kingdom of Israel, often called the Northern Kingdom of Israel, contained all the tribes except for the tribes of Judah, following its conquest by Assyria, these ten tribes were allegedly dispersed and lost to history, and they are henceforth known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Jewish tradition holds that Samaria was so named because the mountainous terrain was used to keep Guard for incoming enemy attacks. According to Samaritan tradition, however, the Samaritan ethnonym is not derived from the region of Samaria, thus, according to Samaritan tradition, the region was named Samaria after them, not vice versa. In Modern Hebrew, the Samaritans are called Shomronim, while in Samaritan Hebrew they call themselves Shamerim, in Judaism, an Israelite is, broadly speaking, a lay member of the Jewish ethnoreligious group, as opposed to the priestly orders of Kohanim and Levites. In texts of Jewish law such as the Mishnah and Gemara, the term יהודי, meaning Jew, is rarely used, Samaritans commonly refer to themselves and to Jews collectively as Israelites, and they describe themselves as the Israelite Samaritans. The name Israel first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 32,29, the Hebrew Bible etymologizes the name as from yisra to prevail over or to struggle/wrestle with, and el, God, the divine. The name Israel first appears in non-biblical sources c.1209 BCE, the inscription is very brief and says simply, Israel is laid waste and his seed is not. The inscription refers to a people, not to an individual or a nation-state, in modern Hebrew, bnei yisrael can denote the Jewish people at any time in history, it is typically used to emphasize Jewish religious identity. From the period of the Mishna the term Yisrael acquired a narrower meaning of Jews of legitimate birth other than Levites. In modern Hebrew this contrasts with the term Yisraeli, a citizen of the modern State of Israel, the term Hebrew has Eber as an eponymous ancestor. It is used synonymously with Israelites, or as a term for historical speakers of the Hebrew language in general. Today, Jews and Samaritans both recognize each other as communities with an authentic Israelite origin, the terms Jews and Samaritans largely replaced the title Children of Israel as the commonly used ethnonym for each respective community. The name Yahweh, the god of the later Israelites, may indicate connections with the region of Mount Seir in Edom, the Canaanites were also the first people, as far as is known, to have used an alphabet

10.
Tribe of Levi
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The Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob, or high priest of the Israelites. Moses and his brother, Aaron, were descendants of the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well, in return, the landed tribes were expected to give tithe to the Cohanim, particularly the tithe known as the Maaser Rishon. They performed the work in the Temple, the Levites who were not Cohanim played music in the Temple or served as guards. Notable descendants of the Levite lineage according to the Bible include Miriam, John the Baptist, Samuel, Ezekiel, Ezra, the descendants of Aaron, who was the first kohen gadol, high priest, of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, the Kohanim. The tribe is named after Levi, one of the sons of Jacob. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, kohaths son Amram was the father of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. The descendants of Aaron, the Kohanim, had the role as priests in the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The remaining Levites were divided into three groups, Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites, each division filled different roles in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple services. Levites principal roles in the Temple included singing Psalms during Temple services, performing construction and maintenance for the Temple, serving as guards, Levites also served as teachers and judges, maintaining cities of refuge in Biblical times. The Book of Ezra reports that the Levites were responsible for the construction of the Second Temple and also translated and explained the Torah when it was publicly read. During the Exodus the Levite tribe were particularly zealous in protecting the Mosaic law in the face of those worshipping the Golden Calf and they are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what people have spoken, saying. Jeremiah 33, 22-24 The prophet Malachi also spoke of a covenant with Levi, Know then that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips, he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, but who may abide the day of his coming. And who shall stand when he appeareth, the Levites are not mentioned by the Song of Deborah considered one of the oldest passages of the Bible. Jahwist passages have more language, traditionally interpreted as referring to a person named Levi they could also be interpreted as just referring to a social position titled levi

11.
Levite
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A Jewish male descended patrilineally from Levi is a Levi, and his full name may be written as HaLevi. The prefix ה, in the Hebrew language, means the, the daughter of a Levi is a Bat Levi. In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Israelite Tribe of Levi, descended from Levi, the Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well. In return, the tribes were expected to give tithe to support the Levites. The Kohanim were the priests, who performed the work of holiness in the Temple, Today, Levites in Orthodox Judaism continue to have additional rights and obligations compared to lay people, although these responsibilities have diminished with the destruction of the Temple. For instance, Kohanim are eligible to be called to the Torah first, Levites also provide assistance to the Kohanim, particularly washing their hands, before the Kohanim recite the Priestly Blessing. They also do not participate in the Pidyon HaBen ceremony, because they are pledged to Divine service. Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism do not observe the distinctions between Kohanim, Levites, and other Jews, Orthodox Judaism believes in the eventual rebuilding of a Temple in Jerusalem and a resumption of the Levitical role. There are a number of schools, primarily in Israel, to train priests. Conservative Judaism believes in a restoration of the Temple as a house of worship and in some role for Levites. The Kohanim are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct descent from the Biblical Aaron of the Levi tribe. The noun kohen is used in the Torah to refer to priests, during the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, Kohanim performed the daily and holiday duties of sacrificial offerings. Today kohanim retain a lesser though distinct status within Judaism. During the Priestly Blessing, the Levites traditionally wash the hands of the Kohanim prior to the blessing of the House of Israel. Contrary to popular belief, this is not due to any sort of lineal sanctity, in Israel, Conservative/Masorti Judaism has not extended Torah honors to either a bat Kohen or a bat Levi. He wrote, Today, we also are living through a time of flood, Not of water, but of a bright fire and we are now drowning in a flood of blood. Through the Kohanim and Leviim help will come to all Israel, a 2003 study of the Y-chromosome by Behar et al. pointed to multiple origins for Ashkenasi Levites, a priestly class who comprise approximately 4% among the Ashkenazi Jews. A2013 paper by Siiri Rootsi et al, here we report the analysis of 16 whole R1 sequences and show that a set of 19 unique nucleotide substitutions defines the Ashkenazi R1a lineage

12.
Torah
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The Torah is the central reference of Judaism. It has a range of meanings and it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books and the Oral Torah, the Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read publicly at least once every three days in the presence of a congregation, reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases for Jewish communal life. The word Torah in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה, the meaning of the word is therefore teaching, doctrine, or instruction, the commonly accepted law gives a wrong impression. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom, theory, guidance, the earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been The Torah of Moses. This title, however, is neither in the Torah itself. It appears in Joshua and Kings, but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus, in contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were The Book of Moses and The Book of the Torah, Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the Pentateuch, a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, meaning five books, or as the Law. The Torah starts from the beginning of Gods creating the world, through the beginnings of the people of Israel, their descent into Egypt, and it ends with the death of Moses, just before the people of Israel cross to the promised land of Canaan. Interspersed in the narrative are the teachings given explicitly or implicitly embedded in the narrative. This is followed by the story of the three patriarchs, Joseph and the four matriarchs, God gives to the patriarchs a promise of the land of Canaan, but at the end of Genesis the sons of Jacob end up leaving Canaan for Egypt due to a regional famine. They had heard there was a grain storage and distribution facility in Egypt. Exodus begins the story of Gods revelation to his people of Israel through Moses, Moses receives the Torah from God, and teaches His laws and Covenant to the people of Israel. It also talks about the first violation of the covenant when the Golden Calf was constructed, Exodus includes the instructions on building the Tabernacle and concludes with its actual construction. Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle, leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following Gods commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Numbers tells how Israel consolidated itself as a community at Sinai, set out from Sinai to move towards Canaan, even Moses sins and is told he would not live to enter the land

13.
Coitus
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Sexual intercourse, or coitus or copulation, is principally the insertion and thrusting of the penis, usually when erect, into the vagina for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both. This is also known as vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex, other forms of penetrative sexual intercourse include anal sex, oral sex, fingering, and penetration by use of a dildo. These activities involve physical intimacy between two or more individuals and are used among humans solely for physical or emotional pleasure. A variety of views concern what constitutes sexual intercourse or other sexual activity and it is usually defined by sexual penetration, while non-penetrative sex acts, such as non-penetrative forms of cunnilingus or mutual masturbation, have been termed outercourse. Non-penetrative sex acts, however, may additionally be considered sexual intercourse, the term sex, often a shorthand for sexual intercourse, can mean any form of sexual activity. Religious beliefs also play a role in decisions about sexual intercourse or other sexual activity, such as decisions about virginity, or legal. Religious views on sexuality vary significantly between different religions and sects of the religion, though there are common themes, such as prohibition of adultery. For most non-human mammals, mating and copulation occur at the point of estrus, however, bonobos, dolphins and chimpanzees are known to engage in sexual intercourse regardless of whether or not the female is in estrus, and to engage in sex acts with same-sex partners. Sexual intercourse may be defined by different words, including coitus, copulation, coition and this is often termed vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex. The term vaginal sex, and less often vaginal intercourse, may refer to any vaginal sexual activity, particularly if penetrative. The World Health Organization states that non-English languages and cultures use different terms for sexual activity, various vulgar or slang words and euphemisms are also used to describe sexual intercourse or other sexual activity, such as the term fuck, shag, and the phrase sleep together. Penetration of the vagina by the penis is additionally known as intromission. Vaginal, anal and oral sex are recognized as sexual intercourse more often than other sexual behaviors, lesbians may define oral sex or fingering as sexual intercourse and subsequently an act of virginity loss, or tribadism as a primary form of sexual activity. Researchers commonly define sexual intercourse as penile–vaginal intercourse while using terms, such as anal sex or oral sex. Scholars Richard M. Lerner and Laurence Steinberg state that researchers also rarely disclose how they define sex or even whether they resolved potential discrepancies in definitions of sex. This focus can also relegate other forms of sexual activity to foreplay or contribute to them not being regarded as real sex. Studies regarding the definition of sexual intercourse sometimes conflict, a 1999 study by the Kinsey Institute examined the definition of sex based on a 1991 random sample of 599 college students from 29 U. S. The specificity of questions concerning sexual activity can additionally affect definitions of sexual intercourse or other sexual behaviors, another study by the Kinsey Institute sampled 484 people, ranging in ages 18–96

14.
Biblical criticism
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Biblical criticism is the scholarly study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings. It will vary depending on whether the focus is on the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. It also plays an important role in the quest for a historical Jesus and it also addresses the physical text, including the meaning of the words and the way in which they are used, its preservation, history and integrity. Biblical criticism draws upon a range of scholarly disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, folklore, linguistics, Oral Tradition studies. Biblical criticism, defined as the treatment of biblical texts as natural rather than supernatural artifacts, a division is still sometimes made between historical criticism and literary criticism. Literary criticism asks what audience the authors wrote for, their purpose. In the 18th century Jean Astruc, a French physician, set out to refute these critics, borrowing methods of textual criticism already in use to investigate Greek and Roman texts, he discovered what he believed were two distinct documents within Genesis. These, he felt, were the original written by Moses, much as the four Gospel writers had produced four separate but complementary accounts of the life. Later generations, he believed, had conflated these original documents to produce the book of Genesis, producing the inconsistencies and contradictions noted by Hobbes. The implications of higher criticism were not welcomed by many religious scholars, quite rightly employed in the case of the Sacred Books. For the fact is that truth is presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts. Reimaruss conclusions appealed to the rationalism of 18th century intellectuals, but were deeply troubling to contemporary believers, baron dHolbach - Ecce Homo -The History of Jesus of Nazareth, a Critical Inquiry, the first Life of Jesus described as a mere historical man, published anonymously in Amsterdam. George Houston translated the work into English—published in Edinburgh,1799, London,1813, the questions they addressed were, What was Jesus’s key message. How was that message related to Judaism, does that message speak to our reality today. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948 revitalised interest in the possible contribution archaeology could make to the understanding of the New Testament, contemporary New Testament criticism continues to follow the synthesising trend set during the latter half of the 20th century. The critical methods and perspectives now to be found are numerous, Textual criticism refers to the examination of the text itself to identify its provenance or to trace its history. It takes as its basis the fact that errors crept into texts as generations of scribes reproduced each others manuscripts. For example, Josephus employed scribes to copy his Antiquities of the Jews, as the scribes copied the Antiquities, they made mistakes

15.
Ark of the covenant
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The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a gold-covered wooden chest described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to various texts within the Hebrew Bible, it also contained Aarons rod, when carried, the Ark was always hidden under a large veil made of skins and blue cloth, always carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the priests and the Levites who carried it. God was said to have spoken with Moses from between the two cherubim on the Arks cover. When at rest the tabernacle was set up and the holy Ark was placed under the veil of the covering the staves of it crossing the side bars to hold it up off the ground. Moses instructed Bezalel and Oholiab to construct the Ark, in Deuteronomy, however, the Ark is said to have been built specifically by Moses himself without reference of Bezalel or Oholiab. The Book of Exodus gives detailed instructions on how the Ark is to be constructed and it is to be 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, and 1½ in height. Then it is to be gilded entirely with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is to be put around it, a golden lid, the kapporet which is covered with 2 golden cherubim, is to be placed above the Ark. Instructions missing from the biblical account include the thickness of the seat, the thickness of its sides and bottom. The Ark is finally to be placed under the veil of the covering, the biblical account continues that, after its creation by Moses, the Ark was carried by the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. Whenever the Israelites camped, the Ark was placed in a room in a sacred tent. When the Israelites, led by Joshua toward the Promised Land, arrived at the banks of the River Jordan, as memorials, twelve stones were taken from the Jordan at the place where the priests had stood. In the Battle of Jericho, the Ark was carried round the city once a day for seven days, after the defeat at Ai, Joshua lamented before the Ark. When Joshua read the Law to the people between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, they stood on each side of the Ark and we next hear of the Ark in Bethel where it was being cared for by the priest Phineas the grandson of Aaron. According to this verse it was consulted by the people of Israel when they were planning to attack the Benjaminites at the battle of Gibeah. A few years later the elders of Israel decided to take the Ark out onto the battlefield to assist them against the Philistines and they were, however, heavily defeated with the loss of 30,000 men. The Ark was captured by the Philistines and Hophni and Phinehas were killed, the news of its capture was at once taken to Shiloh by a messenger with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. The mother of the child Ichabod died at his birth, the Philistines took the Ark to several places in their country, and at each place misfortune befell them. At Ashdod it was placed in the temple of Dagon, the next morning Dagon was found prostrate, bowed down, before it, and on being restored to his place, he was on the following morning again found prostrate and broken

16.
Nissan (Hebrew month)
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Nisan on the Assyrian calendar is the first month, and on the Hebrew calendar is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year. The name of the month is of Assyrian-Babylonian origin, in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, assyrians today refer to the month as the month of happiness. It is a month of 30 days. Nisan usually falls in March–April on the Gregorian calendar, in the Book of Esther in the Tanakh it is referred to as Nisan. Karaite Jews interpret it as referring to the month in which barley was ripe and his last words are recorded as, Im going to heaven, I leave you the writings. 3 Nisan – The Alhambra Decree orders the expulsion of Spanish Jews from Castile,7 Nisan – Joshua sends two spies to Jericho. 10 Nisan – Death of Miriam,39 years after the Exodus,13 Nisan – Death of Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch. 13 Nisan – Death of Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe of Chabad,14 Nisan – Birth of Maimonides 14 Nisan – Warsaw Ghetto uprising begins. The uprising would last until Iyar 3, and is now commemorated in Israel on 27 Nisan. 15 Nisan – Birth of Isaac 15 Nisan – The Exodus from Egypt 15 Nisan Esther appears before Achashverosh unsummoned and invites him, during the feast she requests that the king and Haman attend a second feast the next day. 16 Nisan – The Children of Israel stop eating Manna, six days after entering the Holy Land,16 Nisan – Esthers second feast during which she accuses Haman regarding his plot to annihilate her nation. Achashverosh orders his servants to hang Haman,17 Nisan – Noahs Ark came to rest on mountains of Ararat 17 Nisan – Haman hanged after Queen Esthers second drinking party. 21 Nisan – The sea splits, allowing Israel to escape the Egyptian army,26 Nisan – Death of Joshua 28 Nisan – Conquest of Jericho by Joshua. 29 Nisan – Death of Rabbi Chaim Vital, a Kabbalist,29 Nisan – In Bamberg, Germany during a commercial crisis in 1699, the populace rose up against the Jews, and one Jew saved himself by throwing prunes from a gable-window down upon the mob. That event, the 29th of Nisan, called Zwetschgen-Taanit, was commemorated by a fast, Nisan is also the name for the month of April in Arabic, a later Semitic language, in Kurdish and modern Turkish. In the story of Xenogears, Nisan is the name of a country, quartodecimanism Resources on the Month of Nisan Jewish Encyclopedia, Nisan Strongs Concordance, Nisan This Month in Jewish History

17.
Simeon (Hebrew Bible)
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According to the Book of Genesis, Simeon was, the second son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Simeon. However, some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an etiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation, in the Torahs account of the rape of Dinah, wherein Dinah was raped by a Canaanite named Shechem. Simeon and his brother Levi took violent revenge against the inhabitants of the city by tricking them into circumcising themselves, the account dramatizes the theme of tension between marriage within a group and marriage with outsiders. Jacob castigates Simeon for this as their actions have placed the family in danger of a strike by their neighbors. Later, in his blessing, he condemns Simeons descendants to become divided and scattered. The Jahwists account is viewed as a slight against the sanctuary. The midrashic book of Jasher, argues that it was Simeon who deceived Hamor by insisting that the men of Shechem would need to be circumcised. According to the sources, Simeon suffered divine punishment for this inhumanity, with his right hand withered, but this caused Simeon to repent. In the biblical Joseph narrative, when Joseph, having settled in Egypt, asks his brothers to bring Benjamin to him, he takes Simeon hostage to ensure that they return. Another theory was that Joseph singled out Simeon due to his taking a prominent role in Josephs betrayal, the text states that Simeon was eventually subdued by Manasseh, and imprisoned. The Testament of Simeon, on the hand, declares that Simeon acknowledged that it was just for him to be imprisoned, given his earlier mistreatment of Joseph. According to the Book of Jubilees, Simeon was born on 21 Tevet, jemuel Jamin Ohad Jachin Zohar Shaul Tribe of Simeon Simeon in rabbinic literature

18.
Shechem
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Traditionally associated with Nablus, it is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata al-Balad in the West Bank. The site of Shechem in patristic sources is almost invariably identified with, or located close to, the old city of Shechem dates back to about an estimated four thousand years. Shechem is mentioned in the third-millennium Ebla tablets found at Tell Mardikh in the context of a city of which Rasap is the patron deity, Shechem was a commercial center due to its position in the middle of vital trade routes through the region. It traded in local grapes, olives, wheat, livestock, Shechem had been a Canaanite settlement, first mentioned in Egyptian texts on the Sebek-khu Stele, an Egyptian stele of a noble at the court of Senusret III. In the Amarna Letters of about 1350 BC, Šakmu was the center of a carved out by Labaya. It may be identical to the Sakama mentioned in an account dated to the 19th Egyptian dynasty, Shechem first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 12, 6-8, which records how Abraham reached the great tree of Moreh at Shechem and offered sacrifice nearby. Genesis, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges hallow Shechem over all other cities of the land of Israel, at Shechem, Abram built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. And had given land to his descendants. The Bible states that on occasion, God confirmed the covenant he had first made with Abraham in Harran. In Jewish tradition, the old name was understood in terms of the Hebrew word shékém — shoulder, saddle, the oak is associated with the Oak of Moreh where Abram had set up camp during his travels in this area. Shechem and its lands were given as a Levitical city to the Kohathites. The city, including its Bronze Age temple, fell to the Israelites sometime before 1000 BC, jerubbaal, whose home was at Ophrah, visited Shechem, and his concubine who lived there was mother of his son Abimelech. She came from one of the leading Shechemite families who were influential with the Lords of Shechem, after Gideons death, Abimelech was made king. Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, made a speech on Mount Gerizim in which he warned the people of Shechem about Abimelechs future tyranny. When the city rose in rebellion three years later, Abimelech took it, utterly destroyed it, and burnt the temple of Baal-berith where the people had fled for safety, from the excavations, it was learned that the city was destroyed in 1100 BC. The city was rebuilt in the 10th century BC and was probably the capital of Ephraim, when the kings of Israel moved first to Tirzah, and later on to Samaria, Shechem lost its importance, and we do not hear of it until after the fall of Jerusalem. The events connected with the restoration were to bring it again into prominence, in Acts 7,16 the place is called Sychem. It is not known whether Sychar in the Gospel of John 4,5 refers to Shechem or to a nearby village, Shechem is also the location of Jacobs Well, where John 4, 5–6 describes Jesus meeting with the woman of Samaria

19.
Dinah
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In the Book of Genesis, Dinah was the daughter of Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the Israelites, and Leah, his first wife. Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit the women of Shechem, where her people had made camp, Shechem took her and lay with her and humbled her. And his soul was drawn to Dinah and he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her, and Shechem asked his father to obtain Dinah for him, to be his wife. Hamor came to Jacob and asked for Dinah for his son, Make marriages with us, give your daughters to us and you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Shechem offered Jacob and his sons any bride-price they named and they slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechems house, and went away. And the sons of Jacob plundered whatever was in the city and in the field, all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, but they said, Should he treat our sister as a harlot. This portion of the Book of Genesis deals primarily with the family of Abraham and his descendants, including Dinah, her father Jacob and it foreshadows later happenings and prophecies further along in Genesis and the Torah dealing with the two violent brothers. Source-critical scholars speculate that Genesis combines separate literary strands, with different values and concerns, and does not pre-date the 1st millennium BC as a unified account. Within Genesis 34 itself, they suggest two layers of narrative, an older account ascribing the killing of Shechem to Simeon and Levi alone, kirsch argues that the narrative combines a Yahwist narrator describing a rape, and an Elohist speaker describing a seduction. He instead says that such a description reflected a late, post-exilic notion that the idolatrous gentiles are impure the prohibition of intermarriage, in Rofés analysis, the defilement refers to interracial sex rather than rape. Midrashic literature contains a series of proposed explanations of the Bible by rabbis and it provides further hypotheses of the story of Dinah, suggesting answers to questions such as her offspring, Osnat a daughter, from Shechem and links to later incidents and characters. One midrash states that Dinah was conceived as a male in Leahs womb but miraculously changed to a female, lest Leah be associated with more of the Israelite tribes than Rachel. Her brother Simeon promised to find a husband for her, but she did not wish to leave Shechem, fearing that, after her disgrace, however, she was later married to Job. When she died, Simeon buried her in the land of Canaan and she is therefore referred to as the Canaanitish woman. Shaul/Asenath was her son/daughter by Shechem, early Christian commentators such as Jerome likewise assign some of the responsibility to Dinah, in venturing out to visit the women of Shechem. This story was used to demonstrate the danger to women in the sphere as contrasted with the relative security of remaining in private. On his deathbed, their father Jacob curses Simeon and Levis anger and their tribal portions in the land of Israel are dispersed so that they would not be able to regroup and fight arbitrarily. According to the Midrash, Simeon and Levi were only 14 and 13 years old, respectively and they possessed great moral zealousness, but their anger was misdirected here

20.
Blessing of Jacob
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The Blessing of Jacob is a prophetic poem that appears in Genesis at 49, 1-27 and mentions each of Jacobs twelve sons. Genesis presents the poem as the words of Jacob to his sons when Jacob is about to die. Like the Blessing of Moses, Genesis 49 assesses the Tribes of Israel, in the Blessing of Jacob it is Dan that is the judge and Judah the cub, whereas in that of Moses it is Gad that is the judge and Dan the cub. Unlike Moses, Jacob is not afraid to castigate some of the tribes, in particular, Reuben, Simeon, as Simeons territory was located completely within that of Judah, and Levi only had a few scattered cities, their fates were attributed to their wickedness. Other tribes have a characteristic, whether it be seafaring or beautiful princesses. Although presented at face value as a unit, some scholars claim that some verses came from disparate sources. Verses 10,25,26, and probably verse 18, are regarded as interpolations, or in other words, because the unity of the passage is questionable, it is difficult to determine an exact date of composition. The first to dispute its unity was Ernest Renan, and the conjecture that the song consists of sayings originating in different periods gains more and more credence. The great variety of forms in the song supports this theory, while the language of one part is smooth and clear, the comparison of Judah to a lions whelp seems to characterize him as a rising power. This may apply to different periods, not necessarily to the time of David, the verses on Joseph allude to a defensive war, in which Joseph was successful. Since the text refers to archers, and the Arabs were excellent marksmen, verse 24, however, bears no testimony of times following the glorious period of Jeroboam II, consequently the passage on Joseph points to the ninth century. Dillmann endeavored to arrive at the conclusion by the supposed sequence in the enumeration of the minor tribes. But this supposition, according to the JE, is not tenable, for the very first tribe mentioned is the most northerly, and, furthermore, the sequence is broken by Gad. Zimmerns attempt to connect Jacobs blessing with the Babylonian representation of the zodiac, specifically with the Gilgamesh epic, ball has given some important and well-founded arguments against this theory. Zimmern himself does not assume that the poet or collector of the song was aware of the significance of each passage. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Singer, Isidore. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company

21.
Babylonian captivity
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The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a number of Judahites of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylonia. After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, the dates, numbers of deportations, and numbers of deportees given in the biblical accounts vary. These deportations are dated to 597 BCE for the first, with others dated at 587/586 BCE, after the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, exiled Judeans were permitted to return to Judah. According to the book of Ezra, construction of the second temple in Jerusalem began around 537 BCE. All these events are considered significant in Jewish history and culture, the return of the exiles was a gradual process rather than a single event, and many of the deportees or their descendants did not return. In the late 7th century BCE, the kingdom of Judah was a client state of the Assyrian empire, in the last decades of the century, Assyria was overthrown by Babylon, an Assyrian province. Egypt, fearing the rise of the Neo-Babylonian empire, seized control of Assyrian territory up to the Euphrates river in Syria. In the process Josiah, the king of Judah, was killed in a battle with the Egyptians at the Battle of Megiddo, after the defeat of Pharaoh Nechos army by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605 BCE, Jehoiakim began paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. Some of the nobility of Judah were taken to Babylon. In the following years, the court of Jerusalem was divided into two parties, in support of Egypt and Babylon, after Nebuchadnezzar was defeated in battle in 601 BCE by Egypt, Judah revolted against Babylon, culminating in a three-month siege of Jerusalem beginning in late 598 BCE. Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, died during the siege and was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin at the age of eighteen. The city fell on 2 Adar 597 BCE, and Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and its Temple and took Jeconiah, his court, jehoiakims uncle Zedekiah was appointed king in his place, but the exiles in Babylon continued to consider Jeconiah as their Exilarch, or rightful ruler. Despite warnings by Jeremiah and others of the party, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar returned, defeated the Egyptians, and again besieged Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city wall and the Temple, together with the houses of the most important citizens. Zedekiah and his sons were captured, the sons were executed in front of Zedekiah, Judah became a Babylonian province, called Yehud, putting an end to the independent Kingdom of Judah. Some time later, a member of the royal family assassinated Gedaliah and his Babylonian advisors. According to the book of Ezra, the Persian Cyrus the Great ended the exile in 538 BCE, the exile ended with the return under Zerubbabel the Prince and Joshua the Priest and their construction of the Second Temple in the period 521–516 BCE. He appointed there a king of his own choice and taking heavy tribute brought it back to Babylon, one of the tablets refers to food rations for Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu and five royal princes, his sons

22.
Book of Exodus
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The Book of Exodus or, simply, Exodus, is the second book of the Torah and the Hebrew Bible. The book tells how the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, led by their prophet Moses they journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh promises them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. There is no agreement among scholars on the structure of Exodus. One strong possibility is that it is a diptych, with the division between parts 1 and 2 at the crossing of the Red Sea or at the beginning of the theophany in chapter 19. On this plan, the first part tells of Gods rescue of his people from Egypt and their journey under his care to Sinai, jacobs sons and their families join their brother, Joseph, in Egypt. Once there, the Israelites begin to grow in number, several generations later, Egypts Pharaoh, fearful that the Israelites could be a fifth column, orders that all newborn boys be thrown into the Nile. A Levite woman saves her baby by setting him adrift on the river Nile in an ark of bulrushes, the Pharaohs daughter finds the child, names him Moses, and brings him up as her own. But Moses is aware of his origins, and one day, there he marries Zipporah, the daughter of Midianite priest Jethro, and encounters God in a burning bush. Moses asks God for his name, God replies, I AM that I AM, God tells Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. Moses returns to Egypt and fails to convince the Pharaoh to release the Israelites, God smites the Egyptians with 10 terrible plagues including a river of blood, many frogs, and the death of first-born sons. Moses leads the Israelites out of bondage after a chase when the Pharaoh reneges on his coerced consent. The desert proves arduous, and the Israelites complain and long for Egypt, the Israelites arrive at the mountain of God, where Moses father-in-law Jethro visits Moses, at his suggestion Moses appoints judges over Israel. God asks whether they agree to be his people. Moses is told to ascend the mountain, God pronounces the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all Israel. Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God, who pronounces the Covenant Code, Moses comes down the mountain and writes down Gods words and the people agree to keep them. God calls Moses up the mountain where he remains for 40 days and 40 nights, at the conclusion of the 40 days and 40 nights, Moses returns holding the set of stone tablets. Aaron is appointed as the first hereditary high priest, God gives Moses the two tablets of stone containing the words of the ten commandments, written with the finger of God. While Moses is with God, Aaron makes a golden calf, God informs Moses of their apostasy and threatens to kill them all, but relents when Moses pleads for them

23.
Amram
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In the Book of Exodus, Amram is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. He is praised for his faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews, critical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses. In the Quran, the name Imran is used for the father of Moses and Aaron, as well as the father of Mary, through him would come many other priests and prophets, including Anne, Elizabeth, Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus. In the Apocryphal Testament of Levi, it is stated that Amram was born, as a grandson of Levi, when Levi was 64 years old. Despite the legend of his divorce and remarriage, Amram was also held to have been entirely sinless throughout his life, the other three ancient Israelites who died without sin, being Benjamin, Jesse and Chileab. According to the Book of Jubilees, Amram was among the Israelites who took the bones of Jacobs sons to Canaan for burial in the cave of Machpelah. Most of the Israelites then returned to Egypt but some remained in Canaan, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls is written from Amrams point of view, and hence has been dubbed the Visions of Amram. The document is dated to the 2nd century BC and, in the form of a vision, briefly discusses dualism and the Watchers, I saw Watchers in my vision, two men were fighting over me. holding a great contest over me. I asked them, Who are you, that you are thus empowered over me and they answered, We have been empowered and rule over all mankind. They said to me, Which of us do you choose to rule you, I raised my eyes and looked. He answered, This Watcher. his three names are Belial and Prince of Darkness and King of Evil. I said, My lord, what dominion He answered, You saw, and he is empowered over all Darkness, while I. My three names are Michael, Prince of Light and King of Righteousness

24.
Jochebed
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For people named Yocheved, see Yocheved. According to the Torah, Jochebed was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and she was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life, according to Jewish legend, Jochebed is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias. She is praised for her faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the story of Jochebed is thought to be described in the Book of Exodus - although she is not explicitly named here. She lived in Egypt, where the descendants of Israel were being oppressed, the Pharaoh had decreed that all their baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile, because he feared that they might become too powerful. When Moses, her youngest child, was born, Jochebed therefore hid him for three months until she could hide him no longer. To save her sons life, she made a wooden chest of bulrushes, made it watertight with slime and pitch and she then let the chest float in the Nile while Miriam, her daughter, kept watch over it from a distance. It was found by the Pharaohs daughter, Bithia, who had come to bathe in the river, moved with compassion when she discovered the child, she decided to adopt him. The sister of the child, who had come forward, suggested to find her a Hebrew woman to nurse the child, the Pharaohs daughter agreed and so Miriam called her mother, who was appointed to take care of him. Thus Jochebed nursed her son until he was old enough and brought him to the Pharaohs daughter, the story continues with Moses, who grew up to become the leader of the Exodus, leading his people out of the land of Egypt. According to the Book of Numbers, Jochebed was born to Levi when he lived in Egypt, Amram was the son of Kohath, who was a son of Levi. This would make Jochebed the aunt of Amram, her husband and this kind of marriage between relatives was later forbidden by the law of Moses. Jochebed is also called Amrams fathers sister in the Masoretic text of Exodus 6,20, some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Septuagint state that Jochebed was Amrams fathers cousin, and others state that she was Amrams cousin. In the Apocryphal Testament of Levi, it is stated that Jochebed was born, as a daughter of Levi, when Levi was 64 years old. Jochebed is identified by some rabbis in the Talmud with Shiphrah, textual scholars attribute the genealogy to the Book of Generations, a hypothetical document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source. Biblical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses, jochebeds efforts to save the baby Moses are recounted, along with the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush and the Ten Commandments. Stories of unusual events during the pregnancy of Aminah, mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, are compared with the experiences of Jochebed when she was carrying Moses. The significance of this comparison is understood to spring from the affinity of Arabic folklore for Hebrew traditions, the Ten Commandments calls her Yoshebel

25.
Moses
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Moses is a prophet in Abrahamic religions. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew, he is the most important prophet in Judaism and he is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith as well as a number of other Abrahamic religions. Moses Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through the Pharaohs daughter, the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slavemaster, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak with assurance or eloquence, so God allowed Aaron, his brother, to become his spokesperson. After the Ten Plagues, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the Promised Land on Mount Nebo. According to archaeologist William G. Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE, Jerome gives 1592 BCE, the Biblical account of Moses birth provides him with a folk etymology to explain the ostensible meaning of his name. He is said to have received it from the Pharaohs daughter and she named him Moses, saying, I drew him out of the water. This explanation links it to a verb mashah, meaning to draw out, the princess made a grammatical mistake which is prophetic of his future role in legend, as someone who will draw the people of Israel out of Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. Abraham Yahuda, based on the spelling given in the Tanakh, argues that it combines water or seed and pond, expanse of water, the Hebrew etymology in the Biblical story may reflect an attempt to cancel out traces of Moses Egyptian origins. The Egyptian character of his name was recognized as such by ancient Jewish writers like Philo of Alexandria and Josephus. Philo linked Mōēsēs to the Egyptian word for water, while Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, claimed that the element, -esês. Hizkuni suggested she either converted or took a tip from Jochebed, the Israelites had settled in the Land of Goshen in the time of Joseph and Jacob, but a new pharaoh arose who oppressed the children of Israel. At this time Moses was born to his father Amram, son of Kehath the Levite, who entered Egypt with Jacobs household, his mother was Jochebed, Moses had one older sister, Miriam, and one older brother, Aaron. One day after Moses had reached adulthood he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, Moses, in order to escape the Pharaohs death penalty, fled to Midian. There, on Mount Horeb, God revealed to Moses his name YHWH and commanded him to return to Egypt and bring his people out of bondage. Moses returned to carry out Gods command, but God caused the Pharaoh to refuse, from Egypt, Moses led the Israelites to biblical Mount Sinai, where he was given the Ten Commandments from God, written on stone tablets

26.
Aaron
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In the Hebrew Bible, Aaron was the elder brother of Moses and a Prophet of God. Islamic literature, which also considers Aaron a Prophet of God, knowledge of Aaron, along with his brother Moses, comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Bible and Qur’an. The Hebrew Bible relates that, unlike Moses, who grew up in the Egyptian royal court, Aaron, when Moses first confronted the Egyptian king about the Israelites, Aaron served as his brothers spokesman to Pharaoh. Part of the Law that Moses received from God at Sinai granted Aaron the priesthood for himself and his male descendants, Aaron died before the Israelites crossed the North Jordan river and he was buried on Mount Hor. Aaron is also mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible, according to the Book of Exodus, Aaron first functioned as Moses assistant. Because Moses complained that he could not speak well, God appointed Aaron as Moses prophet, at the command of Moses, he let his rod turn into a snake. Then he stretched out his rod in order to bring on the first three plagues, after that, Moses tended to act and speak for himself. During the journey in the wilderness, Aaron was not always prominent or active, at the battle with Amalek, he was chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the rod of God. When the revelation was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit, while Joshua went with Moses to the top, however, Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people. From here on in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Joshua appears in the role of Moses assistant while Aaron functions instead as the first high priest. The books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers maintain that Aaron received from God a monopoly over the priesthood for himself, the family of Aaron had the exclusive right and responsibility to make offerings on the altar to the God of Israel. The rest of his tribe, the Levites, were given subordinate responsibilities within the sanctuary, Moses anointed and consecrated Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and arrayed them in the robes of office. He also related to them Gods detailed instructions for performing their duties while the rest of the Israelites listened, Aaron and his successors as high priest were given control over the Urim and Thummim by which the will of God could be determined. God commissioned the Aaronide priests to distinguish the holy from the common and the clean from the unclean, the priests were also commissioned to bless the people. In this way, the institution of the Aaronide priesthood was established, in later books of the Old Testament, Aaron and his kin are not mentioned very often except in literature dating to the Babylonian Exile and later. The books of Judges, Samuel and Kings mention priests and Levites, the book of Ezekiel, which devotes much attention to priestly matters, calls the priestly upper class the Zadokites after one of King Davids priests. It does reflect a two-tier priesthood with the Levites in subordinate position, a two-tier hierarchy of Aaronides and Levites appears in Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles. As a result, many think that Aaronide families did not control the priesthood in pre-exilic Israel

27.
Miriam
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MIRIAM is a community-level effort to standardize the annotation and curation processes of quantitative models of biological systems. It consists of a set of guidelines suitable for use with any structured format, allowing different groups to collaborate, adherence to these guidelines also facilitates the sharing of software and service infrastructures built upon modeling activities. These initial ideas were refined at a meeting in Heidelberg, during ICSB2004. MIRIAM is a project of the MIBBI. The model file must be encoded in a public, standardized, the model file must be valid with respect to its encoding schema. The model must be associated with a description or publication detailing its origin. The encoded model structure must reflect the process detailed in the reference description, the model must be instantiable, necessary quantitative parameters, such as initial conditions, should be provided if they are needed for a simulation. When instantiated, the model must be capable of reproducing representative results as given in the reference description, attribution annotation deals with the attribution information that must be embedded within the model file. The model must have a name, the model must include a citation of the reference description identifying the authors of the model. The model must include the name and contact details of the model creators, the date and time of model creation and last modification should be specified. A model history is useful but not required, the model should be linked to a precise statement about its terms of use and distribution, regardless of whether it is free to use or not. External resource annotation defines the manner in which annotations should be constructed and those annotations contain references to entities in databases, classifications, ontologies, etc. One of the purposes of annotation is to allow identification of the various model components. The annotation must unambiguously relate a piece of knowledge to a model constituent, the referenced information should be described using a triplet, The annotation should be expressed as a Uniform Resource Identifier. The collection-specific identifier should be analysed within the framework of the data collection, qualifiers should be used to refine the link between the model components and the referenced information, for example has_a, is_version_of and is_homolog_to. More information about the existing qualifiers is available from BioModels. net, so far, annotation is mainly a manual work, so to ensure their longevity the usage of perennial URIs is necessary. It was recognised that the generation of valid and unique URIs for annotation required the creation of a catalogue of shared namespaces for use by the community and this function is provided by the MIRIAM Registry. The Registry also provides a variety of supporting auxiliary features to enable automated procedures based upon these URIs, the ability to generate resolvable identifiers is provided through the use of the resolving layer, Identifiers. org

28.
Masoretic Text
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The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism. However, contemporary scholars seeking to understand the history of the Hebrew Bible’s text use a range of other sources and these include Greek and Syriac translations, quotations from rabbinic manuscripts, the Samaritan Pentateuch and others such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many of these are older than the Masoretic text and often contradict it, while the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah. The Masoretic Text is widely used as the basis for translations of the Old Testament in Protestant Bibles, in modern times the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown the Masoretic Text to be nearly identical to some texts of the Tanakh dating from 200 BCE but different from others. The Masoretic Text was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE, the Hebrew word mesorah refers to the transmission of a tradition. In a very broad sense it can refer to the chain of Jewish tradition. This Jewish tradition is claimed to be unchanged and infallible, the oldest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century CE. The Aleppo Codex dates from the 10th century and this copy is mentioned in the Letter of Aristeas, in the statements of Philo, and in Josephus. A Talmudic story, perhaps referring to an time, relates that three Torah scrolls were found in the Temple court but were at variance with each other. The differences were resolved by majority decision among the three. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, dating from c.150 BCE-75 CE, the scrolls show numerous small variations in orthography, both as against the later Masoretic text, and between each other. It is also evident from the notings of corrections and of variant alternatives that scribes felt free to choose according to their personal taste and discretion between different readings. However, despite these variations, most of the Qumran fragments can be classified as being closer to the Masoretic text than to any other group that has survived. On the other hand, some of the fragments conforming most accurately to the Masoretic text were found in Cave 4, an emphasis on minute details of words and spellings, already used among the Pharisees as bases for argumentation, reached its height with the example of Rabbi Akiva. Very few manuscripts are said to have survived the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE and this both drastically reduced the number of variants in circulation, and gave a new urgency that the text must be preserved. New Greek translations were also made, unlike the Septuagint, large-scale deviations in sense between the Greek of Aquila of Sinope and Theodotion and what we now know as the Masoretic text are minimal. According to Menachem Cohen these schools developed such prestige for the accuracy, differences remained, sometimes bolstered by systematic local differences in pronunciation and cantillation. Every locality, following the tradition of its school, had a standard codex embodying its readings, in the first half of the 10th century Aaron ben Moses ben Asher and Ben Naphtali were the leading Masoretes in Tiberias

29.
Septuagint
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The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of an Hebraic textual tradition that included certain texts which were later included in the canonical Hebrew Bible and other related texts which were not. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted a number of times in the New Testament, particularly in Pauline epistles, the title and its Roman numeral LXX refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books of Moses into Koine Greek as early as the 3rd century BCE. Separated from the Hebrew canon of the Jewish Bible in Rabbinic Judaism, the traditional story is that Ptolemy II sponsored the translation of the Torah. The Septuagint should not be confused with the seven or more other Greek versions of the Old Testament, of these, the most important are those by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. However, it was not until the time of Augustine of Hippo that the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures came to be called by the Latin term Septuaginta. This narrative is found in the pseudepigraphic Letter of Aristeas to his brother Philocrates, the story is also found in the Tractate Megillah of the Babylonian Talmud, King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one and he entered each ones room and said, Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher. God put it in the heart of one to translate identically as all the others did. Philo of Alexandria, who relied extensively on the Septuagint, says that the number of scholars was chosen by selecting six scholars from each of the tribes of Israel. After the Torah, other books were translated over the two to three centuries. It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where, some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, the quality and style of the different translators also varied considerably from book to book, from the literal to paraphrasing to interpretative. The translation of the Septuagint itself began in the 3rd century BCE and was completed by 132 BCE, initially in Alexandria, the Septuagint is the basis for the Old Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Old Armenian, Old Georgian and Coptic versions of the Christian Old Testament. Some sections of the Septuagint may show Semiticisms, or idioms and phrases based on Semitic languages like Hebrew, other books, such as Daniel and Proverbs, show Greek influence more strongly. The Septuagint may also elucidate pronunciation of pre-Masoretic Hebrew, many nouns are spelled out with Greek vowels in the LXX. However, it is unlikely that all ancient Hebrew sounds had precise Greek equivalents. As the work of translation progressed, the canon of the Greek Bible expanded, the Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon, but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the Jewish Neviim, had various hagiographical works incorporated into it. In addition, some books were included in the Septuagint

30.
Book of Jubilees
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Jubilees is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The text was also utilized by the community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls, no complete Hebrew, Greek or Latin version is known to have survived. The chronology given in Jubilees is based on multiples of seven, there is also a preserved fragment of a Latin translation of the Greek that contains about a quarter of the whole work. The Ethiopic texts, now numbering twenty-seven, are the basis for translations into English. Passages in the texts of Jubilees that are parallel to verses in Genesis do not directly reproduce either of the two surviving manuscript traditions. Consequently, even before the Qumran discoveries, R. H. However, although the Pre-Masoretic text may have indeed been authoritative back then, arguments can be made for and against this concept. Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, the large quantity of manuscripts indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate, the first biblical scholar to propose an origin for Jubilees was Robert Henry Charles. Charles proposed the author of Jubilees may have been a Pharisee, However, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran in 1947, Charles Pharisaic hypothesis of the origin of Jubilees has been almost completely abandoned. The dating of Jubilees has been problematic for biblical scholars, while the oldest extant copies of Jubilees can be assigned on the basis of the handwriting to about 100 BC, there is much evidence to suggest Jubilees was written prior to this date. But Jubilees could not have written very long prior. The Animal Apocalypse pretends to predict the Maccabean Revolt and is dated to that time. The direction of dependence has been controversial, but the consensus since 2008 has been that the Animal Apocalypse was first, as a result, general reference works such as the Oxford Annotated Bible and the Mercer Bible Dictionary conclude the work can be dated to 160–150 BC. The Hasmoneans adopted Jubilees immediately, and it became a source for the Aramaic Levi Document, Jubilees remained a point of reference for priestly circles, and the Temple Scroll and Epistle of Enoch are based on Jubilees. It is the source for certain of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, there is no official record of it in Pharisaic or Rabbinic sources, and it was among several books that the Sanhedrin and Rabbi Akiva left out of the canon they established in the late first century. Sub rosa, many of the traditions which Jubilees includes for the first time are echoed in later Jewish sources, the sole exception within Judaism, the Beta Israel Jews formerly of Ethiopia, regard the Geez text as canonical. Some Early Church Fathers evidently held the book of Jubilees was in high regard, the Book of Jubilees had great influence on the formation of Islam. In the Book of Jubilees there is the same concept of revelation as in Islam, Gods words

31.
Aram, son of Shem
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For distinguishing the different entries on Aram, see Aram. Aram is a son of Shem, according to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 of the Hebrew Bible, and the father of Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash or Meshech. The book of Chronicles lists Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, Aram son of Shem is recognized as a prophet in Mandaeism and as an Islamic prophet. Aram is usually regarded as being the ancestor of the Aramaean people of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. The name Aram means etymologically height, high region, according to Wilhelm Gesenius, a related word, ארמון, is assigned the glosses citadel, castle, palace by Brown-Driver-Briggs. The corresponding entry in Strongs Concordance reads,759 armown ar-mone from an unused root, compare 2038 Strong #2038, in turn, is הרמון From the same as 2036, a castle, - palace. The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible uses the Hebrew word ארמי ărammì for Aramean, Bethuel the Aramean from Padan-aram is identified as the father-in-law of Isaac. Laban the son of Bethuel is also referred to as an Aramean who lived in Haran in Padan-aram, the Hebrew word רמי rammîy is found at 2 Chronicles 22,5, also translated Aramaean or Syrian. The land of Aram-Naharaim included Padan-Aram and the city of Haran, Haran being mentioned ten times in the Bible and this region is traditionally thought to be populated by descendants of Aram, as is the nearby land of Aram that included Aram Damascus and Aram Rehob. David wrote of his striving with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah, Aram-Naharaim is mentioned five times in Youngs Literal Translation. The toponym A-ra-mu appears in an inscription at Ebla listing geographical names, and the term Armi, the inscriptions of Naram-Sin of Akkad, in the Akkadian language, closely associated Arman with Ebla. One of the annals of Naram-Sin mentions that he captured Dubul, other early references to a place or people of Aram have appeared in the archives at Mari and at Ugarit. Tiglath-Pileser I, in impressions of his later annals, referred to the Arameans, I have crossed the Euphrates 28 times, twice in one year, there may also have been a city named Arman east of the Tigris River. The Semitic storm-god, Hadad, was patron deity of both Aram and Ugarit, the King of Aram was called Ben-Hadad. Islamic prophet Hud, a Prophet of ancient Arabia, is believed by Muslim scholars to have been a descendant of Aram, Hud is said to have preached in ʿĀd, in Arabia, according to the Quran. The towns eponymous ancestor, Ad, is considered to have been the son of Uz, one of Arams sons

32.
Terah
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Terah is also a place, Terah Terah or Térach is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis, son of Nahor, son of Serug and father of the Patriarch Abraham, all descendants of Shems son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament, most of what is told about Terah is recorded in Genesis 11, 26–28. Terahs father was Nahor, son of Serug, descendants of Shem and they and many of their ancestors were polytheistic. Regarding his children, Terah had three sons, Abram, Haran, and Nahor II and his daughter Sarai, by a second wife, was also his daughter-in-law, wife of Abram. The entire family, including grandchildren, lived in Ur of the Chaldees, one of his grandchildren was Lot, whose father, Haran, had died before the family left Ur. Terahs son Abram had an encounter with God, who directed him to take the family, leave Ur. Terah coordinated the journey, intending to go to new land, but stopped in the city of Haran along the way. Genesis 11,26 states that Terah lived 70 years, and he begat Abram, Nachor, rashi comments on the subsequent elaboration on the story of Abraham that Abraham was the gem of the chronology of Genesis 11 which the Torah wanted to focus on. In the Jewish tradition, Genesis teaches that Terah was 70 years old when he begat Abram, the Talmud says that Abraham was 52 years old at year 2000 AM, which means that he was born in the year 1948 AM. Rashi explains this based on Abram being born when Terah was 70, seder Olam Rabbah holds that Abram was the eldest, but the Talmud leaves the above question open. According to rabbinical tradition Terah was a wicked, idolatrous priest who manufactured idols, Abram, in opposition to his father’s idol shop, smashed his father’s idols and chased customers away. Terah then brought his son before Nimrod, who threw him into a fiery furnace. The Zohar says that when God saved Abram from the furnace, Terah repented, kahana said that God assured Abram that his father Terah had a portion in the World to Come. Rabbi Hiyya relates this account in Genesis Rabba, Terah left Abram to mind the store while he departed, a woman came with a plateful of flour and asked Abram to offer it to the idols. Abram then took a stick, broke the idols, and put the stick in the largest idol’s hand, when Terah returned, he demanded that Abram explain what hed done. Abram told his father that the idols fought among themselves and the largest broke the others with the stick. “Why do you make sport of me. ”Terah cried, “Do they have any knowledge. ”Abram replied and it is shrouded in mystery to Jewish scholars as to why Terah began the journey and as to why the journey ended prematurely. In Jewish tradition Abram left Haran before Terah died as an expression that he would not be remiss in the Mitzvah, of honoring a parent, by leaving his aging father behind

33.
Sarah
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Sarah or Sara was the wife and also the half–sister of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. According to Genesis 17,15, God changed her name to Sarah as part of a covenant after Hagar bore Abraham his first son, the Hebrew name Sarah indicates a woman of high rank and is translated as princess or noblewoman. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, Sarah was approximately ten years younger than her husband. She was considered beautiful to the point that Abraham feared that when they were more powerful rulers she would be taken away. Twice he purposely identified her as being his sister so that he would be treated well for her sake, no reason is given why Sarah remained barren for a long period of time. She was originally called Sarai, which is translated my princess, later she was called Sarah, i. e. princess. Terah, with Abram, Sarai and Lot, departed for Canaan, but stopped in a place named Haran, following Gods command Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the wealth and persons that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. Abram was 75 at this time, there was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households, travelled south to Egypt. When the Egyptians see you, they say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me but will let you live, say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you. When brought before Pharaoh, Sarai said that Abram was her brother, and it is possible that Sarai acquired her Egyptian handmaid Hagar during this stay. However, God afflicted Pharaohs household with great plagues, Pharaoh then realized that Sarai was Abrams wife and demanded that they leave Egypt immediately. After having lived in Canaan for ten years and still childless, Sarai suggested that Abram have a child with her Egyptian handmaid Hagar and this resulted in tension between Sarai and Hagar, and Sarai complained to her husband that the handmaid no longer respected her. At one point, Hagar fled from her mistress but returned after angels met her and she gave birth to Abrams son Ishmael when Abram was eighty-six years old. In Genesis 17 when Abram was ninety-nine years old, God declared his new name, Abraham – a father of many nations, God gave Sarai the new name Sarah, and blessed her. Abraham was given assurance that Sarah would have a son, not long afterwards, Abraham and Sarah were visited by three men. One of the visitors told Abraham that upon his next year. While at the tent entrance, Sarah overheard what was said, the visitor inquired of Abraham why Sarah laughed at the idea of bearing a child, for her age was as nothing to God

34.
Abraham
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Abraham, originally Abram, is the first of the three patriarchs of Judaism. His story features in the texts of all the Abrahamic religions and Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity. The biblical narrative revolves around the themes of posterity and land, Abraham is called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land originally given to Canaan, but which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. Various candidates are put forward who might inherit the land after Abraham, Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons, but on his death, when he is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives all Abrahams goods, while the other sons receive only gifts. Terah, the ninth in descent from Noah, was the father of three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran, Haran was the father of Lot, and died in his native city, Ur of the Chaldees. Abram married Sarah, who was barren, Terah, with Abram, Sarai, and Lot, then departed for Canaan, but settled in a place named Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. There was a famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households. On the way Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she was his sister, however, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, for which he tried to find the reason. Upon discovering that Sarai was a woman, Pharaoh demanded that they and their household leave immediately. When they came back to the Bethel and Hai area, Abrams and this became a problem for the herdsmen who were assigned to each familys cattle. But Lot chose to go east to the plain of Jordan where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoar, Abram went south to Hebron and settled in the plain of Mamre, where he built another altar to worship God. During the rebellion of the Jordan River cities against Elam, Abrams nephew, the Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodoms armies. Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sodom which made them a visible target, one person who escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants, Abrams force headed north in pursuit of the Elamite army, who were already worn down from the Battle of Siddim. When they caught up with them at Dan, Abram devised a plan by splitting his group into more than one unit. Not only were able to free the captives, Abrams unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King Chedorlaomer at Hobah. They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, upon Abrams return, Sodoms king came out to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh, the kings dale

Levi Strauss & Co.
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/ˌliːvaɪ ˈstraʊs/ is a privately owned American clothing company known worldwide for its Levis /ˌliːvaɪz/ brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, the companys corporate headquarters is located in the Levis Plaza in San Francisco. Levi Strauss started the business at the 90

1.
Tag from a pair of Levi 501 button fly jeans

2.
Levi Strauss & Co.

3.
Levi Strauss advertising on a building in Woodland, California

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Levi's Plaza, corporate headquarters

Levi Strauss
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Levi Strauss was an American businessman of German origin who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co. began in 1853 in San Francisco, Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, Germany, on February 26,1829, in the Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. He was the son of Hirsch Strau

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Levi Strauss

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Birthplace of Levi Strauss

Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languag

Modern Hebrew language
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Modern Hebrew or Israeli Hebrew, generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew, is the standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It was revived as a language in the 19th and 20th centuries and is one of the two official languages of Israel, along with Modern Standard Arabic. Modern Hebrew is spoken by about nine people, counting nativ

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The word shalom as rendered in Modern Hebrew, including vowel points

Tiberian vocalization
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The system soon became used to vocalize other Hebrew texts as well. The Tiberian vocalization marks vowels and stress, makes fine distinctions of consonant quality and length, the sin dot distinguishes between the two values of ש‎. A dagesh indicates a consonant is geminate or unspirantized, and a raphe indicates spirantization, the mappiq indicate

Book of Genesis
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The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The basic narrative expresses the theme, God creates the world and appoints man as his regent. The new post-Flood world is also corrupt, God does not destroy it, instead calling one man, Abraham, to be the seed of its salvation. At Gods command Abraham descen

Jacob
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Jacob, later given the name Israel, is regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Jacob was the third Hebrew progenitor with whom God made a covenant and he is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham, Sarah and Bethuel, the nephew of Ishmael, and the younger twin brother of Esau. Jacob had twelve sons

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Jacob Wrestling with the Angel by Rembrandt

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Jacob's Dream statue and display on the campus of Abilene Christian University. The artwork is based on Genesis 28:10-22 and graphically represents the scenes alluded to in the hymn " Nearer, My God, to Thee " and the spiritual " We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder " as well as other musical works.

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This article is about the patriarch. For other uses, see Jacob (disambiguation).

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Jacob offering a dish of lentils to Esau for his birthright, 18th-century painting by Zacarias Gonzalez Velazquez.

Leah
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Leah, as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the daughter of Laban. She and her younger sister Rachel became the two concurrent wives of Hebrew patriarch Jacob and she had six sons, whose descendants became some of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. She also had a daughter, Dinah, the Torah introduces Leah by describing her with the phrase, Leah had tende

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Dante's Vision of Rachel and Leah – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1899

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Michelangelo 's Leah at the tomb of Pope Julius II at San Pietro in Vincoli.

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Tomb of Leah, 1911.

Israelites
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The Israelites were a Semitic-speaking people of the ancient Near East, who inhabited a part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods. The ancient Israelites are considered to be an outgrowth of the indigenous Canaanite populations that inhabited the Southern Levant, Syria, ancient Israel. In the period of the monarchy it was only used to

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Mosaic of the 12 Tribes of Israel, from a synagogue wall in Jerusalem

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The Merneptah stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of biblical archaeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel", representing the first instance of the name Israel in the historical record.

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Landscape of Samaria in the territory of Ephraim

Tribe of Levi
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The Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob, or high priest of the Israelites. Moses and his brother, Aaron, were descendants of the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well, in return, the landed tribes wer

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Tribes of Israel

Levite
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A Jewish male descended patrilineally from Levi is a Levi, and his full name may be written as HaLevi. The prefix ה, in the Hebrew language, means the, the daughter of a Levi is a Bat Levi. In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Israelite Tribe of Levi, descended from Levi, the Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Isra

Torah
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The Torah is the central reference of Judaism. It has a range of meanings and it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books and the Oral Torah, the Oral Torah consists of interpretations a

Coitus
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Sexual intercourse, or coitus or copulation, is principally the insertion and thrusting of the penis, usually when erect, into the vagina for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both. This is also known as vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex, other forms of penetrative sexual intercourse include anal sex, oral sex, fingering, and penetration by use of

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Sexual intercourse in the missionary position, the most common human sex position, depicted by Édouard-Henri Avril

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19th-century painting of a couple engaged in vaginal intercourse, by Achille Devéria

Biblical criticism
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Biblical criticism is the scholarly study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings. It will vary depending on whether the focus is on the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. It also plays an important role in the quest for a historical Jesus and it also addresses the physical text, including t

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The Gutenberg Bible, the first printed Bible

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Title page of Richard Simon 's "Critical History" (1685), an early work of biblical criticism.

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Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965). His The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906) demonstrated that 19th century "lives of Jesus" were reflections of the authors' own historical and social contexts.

Ark of the covenant
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The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a gold-covered wooden chest described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to various texts within the Hebrew Bible, it also contained Aarons rod, when carried, the Ark was always hidden under a large veil made of skins and bl

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Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by Benjamin West, 1800

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The covered ark and seven priests with rams' horns, at the Battle of Jericho, in an eighteenth-century artist's depiction.

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Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark, painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, c. 1900

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1728 illustration of the Ark at the erection of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17-19

Nissan (Hebrew month)
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Nisan on the Assyrian calendar is the first month, and on the Hebrew calendar is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year. The name of the month is of Assyrian-Babylonian origin, in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, assyrians today refer to the month as the month of happiness. It is a month of 3

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Passover, the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, begins on the 15th of Nisan and commemorates the Israelites' liberation from Egyptian slavery.

Simeon (Hebrew Bible)
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According to the Book of Genesis, Simeon was, the second son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Simeon. However, some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an etiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation, in the Torahs account of the rape of Dinah

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Portuguese sketch, in English the name is Simeon

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Simeon and Levi slay the Shechemites

Shechem
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Traditionally associated with Nablus, it is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata al-Balad in the West Bank. The site of Shechem in patristic sources is almost invariably identified with, or located close to, the old city of Shechem dates back to about an estimated four thousand years. Shechem is mentioned in the third-millen

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Shechem in 2013

Dinah
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In the Book of Genesis, Dinah was the daughter of Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the Israelites, and Leah, his first wife. Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit the women of Shechem, where her people had made camp, Shechem took her and lay with her and humbled her. And his soul was drawn to Dinah and he loved the maiden and spok

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17th century depiction of the rape of Dinah.

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The abduction of Dinah, depicted by James Tissot

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Gerard Hoet: "Simeon and Levi slay the people of Shechem"

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Dinah, Portrait of a Negress by Eastman Johnson

Blessing of Jacob
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The Blessing of Jacob is a prophetic poem that appears in Genesis at 49, 1-27 and mentions each of Jacobs twelve sons. Genesis presents the poem as the words of Jacob to his sons when Jacob is about to die. Like the Blessing of Moses, Genesis 49 assesses the Tribes of Israel, in the Blessing of Jacob it is Dan that is the judge and Judah the cub, w

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Jacob Blessing His Sons by François Maitre. The mention of a bed in Genesis 49:33 indicates that this is a deathbed speech.

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Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph by Rembrandt, 1656

Babylonian captivity
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The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a number of Judahites of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylonia. After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, the dates, numbers of deportations, and numbers of deportees given in the bibl

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James Tissot, The Flight of the Prisoners.

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Illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle of the destruction of Jerusalem under the Babylonian rule

Book of Exodus
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The Book of Exodus or, simply, Exodus, is the second book of the Torah and the Hebrew Bible. The book tells how the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, led by their prophet Moses they journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh promises them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. There is

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Tanakh (Judaism)

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Moses with the Ten Commandments, by Rembrandt (1659)

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"Departure of the Israelites", by David Roberts, 1829

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"Crossing of the Red Sea", Nicholas Poussin

Amram
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In the Book of Exodus, Amram is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. He is praised for his faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews, critical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses. In the Quran, the name Imran

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Musa

Jochebed
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For people named Yocheved, see Yocheved. According to the Torah, Jochebed was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and she was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life, according to Jewish legend, Jochebed is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias. She is praised for her faith in the Epis

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Moses and Jochebed by Pedro Américo, 1884.

Moses
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Moses is a prophet in Abrahamic religions. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew, he is the most important prophet in Judaism and he is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith as well as a number of other Abrahamic religions. Moses Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to

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Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law by Rembrandt

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Moses and the tablets of law, by Jusepe de Ribera.

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Moses rescued from the Nile, 1638, by Nicolas Poussin.

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Moses before the Pharaoh, a 6th-century miniature from the Syriac Bible of Paris

Aaron
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In the Hebrew Bible, Aaron was the elder brother of Moses and a Prophet of God. Islamic literature, which also considers Aaron a Prophet of God, knowledge of Aaron, along with his brother Moses, comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Bible and Qur’an. The Hebrew Bible relates that, unlike Moses, who grew up in the Egyptian royal court,

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A 14th-century shrine built on top of the supposed grave of Aaron on Jabal Hārūn in Petra, Jordan.

Miriam
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MIRIAM is a community-level effort to standardize the annotation and curation processes of quantitative models of biological systems. It consists of a set of guidelines suitable for use with any structured format, allowing different groups to collaborate, adherence to these guidelines also facilitates the sharing of software and service infrastruct

Masoretic Text
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The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism. However, contemporary scholars seeking to understand the history of the Hebrew Bible’s text use a range of other sources and these include Greek and Syriac translations, quotations from rabbinic manuscripts, the Samaritan Pentateuch and others such a

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The Nash Papyrus (2nd century BCE) contains a portion of a pre-Masoretic Text, specifically the Ten Commandments and the Shema Yisrael prayer.

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A page from the Aleppo Codex, showing the extensive marginal annotations.

Septuagint
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The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of an Hebraic textual tradition that included certain texts which were later included in the canonical Hebrew Bible and other related texts which were not. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted a number of times in the New T

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Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus c. 325–350 CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and English translation.

Book of Jubilees
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Jubilees is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The text was also utilized by the community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls, no complete Hebrew, Greek or Latin version is known to have survived. The chronology given in Jubilees is based on multiples of seven, there is als

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Tanakh (Judaism)

Aram, son of Shem
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For distinguishing the different entries on Aram, see Aram. Aram is a son of Shem, according to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 of the Hebrew Bible, and the father of Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash or Meshech. The book of Chronicles lists Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, Aram son of Shem is recognized as a prophet in Mandaeism and as an Islamic prophet. Aram is

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The Euphrates and Tigris Rivers flow (top left to bottom right) from Ararat (Turkey) through Aram (Syria), to Assyria (Iraq), and into the Persian Gulf.

Terah
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Terah is also a place, Terah Terah or Térach is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis, son of Nahor, son of Serug and father of the Patriarch Abraham, all descendants of Shems son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament, most of what is told about Terah is recorded in Genesis 11, 26–28. Terahs father was Nahor

Sarah
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Sarah or Sara was the wife and also the half–sister of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. According to Genesis 17,15, God changed her name to Sarah as part of a covenant after Hagar bore Abraham his first son, the Hebrew name Sarah indicates a woman of high rank and is translated as princess or noblewoma

Abraham
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Abraham, originally Abram, is the first of the three patriarchs of Judaism. His story features in the texts of all the Abrahamic religions and Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity. The biblical narrative revolves around the themes of posterity and land, Abraham is called by God to leave the house of his fat

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The bosom of Abraham - medieval illustration from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)

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Allegory of Music by Filippino Lippi (between 1475 and 1500): The "Allegory of Music" is a popular theme in painting. Lippi uses symbols popular during the High Renaissance, many of which refer to Greek mythology.

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Salvator Rosa: Allegory of Fortune, representing Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, with the horn of plenty

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British School 17th century - Portrait of a Lady, Called Elizabeth, Lady Tanfield. Sometimes the meaning of an allegory can be lost, even if art historians suspect that the artwork is an allegory of some kind.